Heat Warning

Due to forecast high temperatures, we are again invoking the Hot Weather schedule.

Members are again reminded to take care in the hot conditions. Ensure you drink plenty of water before, during and after the race.

Riders who feel unwell during the race should stop and seek assistance from the First Aid attendant.

Traffic Controller Course

The Traffic Controller Training courses will be held for free for Canberra cycling clubs and cycling organisations on February 11, 2017 Spaces are limited for the training course, and once full a waitlist will be activated so we can host further courses.

Fully subsidised by Roads ACT this course has been organised to assist in minimising costs on cycling clubs and organisations and help train volunteers, or club appointed marshals to fulfil the marshalling duties at cycling events. We urge you to make use of this generous offer and assist your club and the broader cycling community by having more trained and skilled operators available for club and open events in the ACT. Please note ALL registrants must have a current driver’s license.

From the desk of the Handicapper

The following members have come to the attention of the handicapper this week;- Shane Warburton D to C- Bryan Holloway B to C- Mark Partridge E to D

Recently, a number of new riders in A grade have celebrated on winning. AVCC rules take a dim view to this practice:

8. b) Dangerous riding, including the practice of saluting by removing one or both hands off the bars at a finish, will not be tolerated and the referee shall discipline any rider whom he/she deems to be guilty of this practice, or any other act that endangers other riders or road users. Hands must remain on the handle bars.

Further instances may result in disqualification.

Update on Mark Gillett

Mark Gillett is now out of hospital and convalescing at home. On Wednesday, he will be having X-rays on his pelvis to determine when he can begin putting weight on his legs. He'd like to thank all those who visited him in hospital although if it were in the first few weeks he can't remember who you were. He's not planning on returning to cycling but may give rowing a go (straight course with lanes??).

Vintage Racing Bike Collector Talk

Have you recently been lacking a solid “lecturing to” and “good bollocking” ?

Well here is your next opportunity to put an end to the drought, by listening to a Collector Talk. Delivered by Peter Taylor, he will be shining a light on key features of his vintage racing bike exhibition at the Canberra Museum and Gallery (CMAG).

Ideally timed on a Saturday so you can bash out a long ride, shower, and regroup to have lunch with your ride buddies in town arriving early to pre-browse before the main show starts. Could be standing room only.

A good question to ask Pete on the day is: “so Pete, how is it you can ride a Hillbrick so quickly up a hill without Di2?”

John Paul De Sousa

Charity bike ride to Qld

On Saturday March 11, 2017 I am heading off on a charity bike ride to raise money for Red Nose (formally SidsnKids), ‘Ellen’s Ride’, I will be riding from the ACT to QLD through country NSW covering 1350k’s over 11 days.

This ride is in memory of our daughter, Ellen, who was born still in January 2010. If you would like to help me raise money for this wonderful charity and sponsor me please click on the following link;

Found GPS

A member of the public has reported finding a GPS unit;

My wife found a bike GPS (I believe they can be very expensive) while she was out walking near the Gleneagles Estate.

I have had a look through the instrument and have gathered the owner is male and 60 years old ... and he appears to do a lot of riding (presumably on an off-road bike)! It would be nice to return the GPS to this person.

The other piece of information I can offer is that the gentleman's ride appears to have started on a bike path off Cromwell Circuit and adjacent to Azalea Circuit, Isabella Gardens, in Isabella Plans.

I know this is a long-shot but perhaps you have to resources (emails, etc) available that might assist in tracking the owner.

The instrument can be secured from me by identifying the brand, colour, etc.

RACE REPORTS:

Stromlo – 24th January

After a fairly hot and windy day, the weather gods smiled on the Vets out at Stromlo and produced an almost perfect evening for racing with temperatures in the mid-twenties and a light breeze. There was a slight holdup with the registrations and when things opened up the queues formed, but Jan Koehler was there helping out and did a great job moving them through and looking after the sign-ons for the rest of the evening. As a result, we were only a couple of minutes late starting and generally kept to the times for the rest of the evening. There was also a fair bit of ‘excitement’ later on with the second and third groups having to contend with kangaroos at both ends of the track.

A grade kicked things off and after a gentle start, things heated up after 10 minutes with Andrew Chamberlain going off the front for a bit. After a couple of laps he was caught, but this was immediately followed by a group of 6 going off the front – Mathew Corby, Mark Harris, Paul Scherl, Brendan Lakey, Jonathan Drury and Rowan McMurray. The group worked well together and the first 4 of these riders survived until the finish, finishing in the order noted.

C grade was a little more sedate with just the 6 riders. Andrew Tully made a brief foray off the front at the halfway mark and then things split up a little towards the end but a group of 4 riders came together for the sprint with Warwick Wilson taking the honours from Andrew Tully and Ian Preston.

B grade was next up with 18 riders and ended up being a fairly volatile affair. Mark Terracini went off on his own early for about 10 minutes, and soon after getting caught, a group of 4 with Peter Merrick, Tim Minehan, Peta Brill and Wayne Shippley were away for a couple of laps. However, soon after they were caught, a 6 person break got away with Mark Terracini, Chris Kon, Tim Minehan, Peter Merrick, Heath Chester and Nick Boylan. The first 4 of these survived until the finish and finished in that order.

D grade was also on the track with b grade, but kept things together for most of their race with only Russel Marston having a brief stint off the from at about the 30 minute mark. Perhaps the main pack was being a little cautious with the roos starting to appear. In the sprint for the line Shane Warburton got up over David Gunther and Robert Mackey.

E grade were the first of the next group on the line and again, they generally kept things together for most of the race with only Mark Partridge getting off the front at the 6 minute mark. Mark was obviously in a bit of form and managed to stay away for the whole race and might come to the attention of the handicapper! Tony Sheehan won the sprint for second place and was followed in by Theresa McLachlan, Rosemary Robinson and Ian Morton.

F grade was a bit more aggressive than the group on the other side of the track, with Bill Frost and Graham Hendrie getting away early for a couple of laps. Sue Duckett managed a couple of laps on her own during the middle part of the race, almost connecting with Mark Partridge from E grade. And Doug Lean had a bit of go later on in the race. The earlier efforts hadn’t impacted too much on Sue or Doug and they came over the line in that order, followed by David Witteveen.

Bernie Crowe was the only contender in G grade and he circled the track on his pat malone, dodging the roos and took out another win.

Many thanks to Graham Hendrie for opening up and getting things set up; Jan Koehler with the registrations and Tom Roberts with the first aid and some additional marshalling, particular taking numbers at the chute.

Rob Langridge

Narrabundah Track Racing – 25th January

The attendance for Session 14 of the track racing season was again below par, possibly because of the proximity to Australia Day. On this occasion, B grade numbers held up reasonably well. The weather was fine for racing. The day was mostly cloudy. However, the cloud cleared and the evening warmed considerably as the warm up session progressed. As usual, the breeze was initially stiff and moderated over the session.

With low numbers, the 10-lap A grade scratch race was not expected to host many attacks. However, Kerry Knowler livened things up on lap 8. The pack quickly accelerated to take Kerry’s wheel and nullify the attack. Steve Jones and Alec Millet bided their time, then hauled around Kerry on the final lap, to set up an exciting sprint. Steve and Alec rocketed over the line in lockstep, for the first dead heat of the season. Kerry Knowler took second place followed by Ed Garnett in third.

The 10-Lap B grade scratch race was interesting and exhausting. Graeme O’Neill led out at modest pace. Dougal Torrance attacked on the first lap and quickly established a 15 metre gap. This had the whole pack scrambling to keep up. The torrid pace held for the next 5 laps until Dougal was finally hauled in. There was a short respite, before the pack was again accelerating over the final laps. Steve Hirsler rode well to take the sprint win from Phil Anderson and Tony Beasley in second and third respectively.

The evening’s second event was a 1-lap standing start time trial. This is a great test of acceleration and all out speed. Alec Millett impressed with the only time under 28 seconds. Hard to believe Alec started in B grade last year. He has improved enormously and is now one of the fastest (if not fastest) in A grade. Ed Garnett put in a good time of 28.51s to take second spot in A grade. All the A grade times were within a spread of 1.5 seconds. In B grade, Steve Hirsler put in a great time just below 30 seconds. The next four riders in B grade were within a 1.8 second spread. Dougal Torrance took second with a time below 31 seconds.

The evening’s third event was a 2-Lap handicap. With the modest numbers, this race was all-in for A and B grade, providing some interesting racing. In previous handicap events, Graeme O’Neill had always been run down from a good handicap. Not this time! Graeme suffered through the two laps. He held on by a few metres to take a rare win from a fast closing Tony Beasley and Alec Millett. Alec was the stand out performer from A grade, confirming his current great form.

As usual, the final event was an all-in Italian Pursuit. This was one of the best of the recent pursuits, with Team 1 and Team 2 circulating in lockstep until the anchor riders Steve Jones and Alec Millet took the final lap. Alec is in great form and Steve was slightly balked by riders circulating on the duck board. The nett result was that Alec pulled off a great win for Team 1. A lesson learned is that riders will need to finish their turn at the fence for future pursuits.